The war news and videos coming to us every day from Ukraine are having a major impact on the future of many companies.
I am often asked if it still makes sense to do Marketing And Communication in a social, moral, and economic context that every day seems to drift more and more adrift.
This is a more than the reasonable question: if, in fact, after two years of the pandemic, the importance of communication on various products and services had somewhat obscured (for example, in the travel, experience, and leisure sectors), today with the scenarios of war and the hypothesis of a recession at the gates, it is legitimate to wonder if marketing and communication still have a raison d’être.
An entrepreneur must always support the mission and the interests of his company. For this reason, the daily realities that struggle to pay employees and cover general costs ask themselves where and how to economise. And the investments that have always been at the top of the list of possible savings are those in communication and marketing.
But it doesn’t necessarily have to be like this: the economy and society are based on work, work is competitive, and competitiveness must be communicated.
Marketing Is Never A Waste Of Money
But how much can you save by cutting back on marketing activities? For most companies, the percentage allocated to communication fluctuates between 5% and 7% of forecast sales, but not all expenses can be eliminated (one can reasonably think of half, around 3%).
Therefore, every entrepreneur should ask himself whether, for such a value, it makes sense to obscure his brand or product and temporarily exit the market with the risk of reaching a point of no return.
The answer is NO because marketing is always a good use of money. Especially in an economic crisis, everything concerning marketing is vital for maintaining the competitive advantage of activity.
Just wondering what happens when the brand “disappears” from the public radar. It simply resizes and does so directly to the extent of the cut that has been decided to operate in the marketing sector.
Many companies are making these cuts. But when the competitors let go, the opportunity to stand out for those who still want to invest appears. In fact, less advertising competition means new opportunities to shine, perform, and differentiate yourself from them. We must take advantage of the moment!
A rather obvious comparison is that with the world of fencing: the best athletes launch decisive thrusts at their opponents when they let their guard down, thus making the most of their moments of weakness.
In times of crisis, marketing and advertising must become the workhorses, not the Achilles’ heel. Reducing marketing investments will only save money in the short term, with the risk of leaving the memory and preferences of consumers who, in any case, will constantly continue to look for solutions to meet their needs.
When a consumer wants a product or service but, out of necessity, postpones the purchase, he puts that intention in the back of his mind. This means that that product has a part of that person’s thinking and will become active again as soon as possible because crises, even the toughest ones, don’t last forever. It is precisely the period in which many give up when it is necessary to push on the accelerator. Not all companies will cut marketing, but many wills, creating silence that others will fill and opportunities that others will exploit.
Digital Assistance And Facilitated Finance Against The Crisis
In this panorama, an essential aid to adapting one’s marketing and communication strategies is undoubtedly offered by the digital world and by the new tools’ continuous opportunities, even convenience.
These devices innovate daily and provide meaningful solutions that not all entrepreneurs know, such as advanced target profiling systems. Ignoring these developments means losing the perception and the opportunity on tools that are fundamental for business promotion even in previously closed and complex markets.
No one is immune from crises and from the need to give discontinuity to their commercial strategies. It is often the smallest companies that suffer the most due to their limited marketing skills and which therefore find themselves unable to promptly adopt commercial variables or grasp the existing opportunities, such as the “Facilitated Finance” tools made available by the Regions and the European Union which constitute an excellent opportunity to innovate as much as necessary, avoiding passive, wait-and-see strategies, with the risk of losing market share, consensus and competitiveness.
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